Radiation Company Grant Recipient to Focus on Mesothelioma Treatment

TomoTherapy, a company that provides radiation treatment equipment, has named their recipients for the 2009-10 Clinical Investigation Grants. The grant program supports research on the clinical benefits of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for improving cancer care.

Klaus Herfarth, M.D., of University of Heidelberg, Germany will use the grant to examine whether treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma with helical TomoTherapy can reduce the radiation dose to the non-diseased lung. Many patients with mesothelioma had no therapy options before due to the unusual shape of the tumor and the inability to reach cancer cells when they are wrapped around sensitive normal tissues.

Mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive cancer primarily caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, can take up to 50 years to develop after exposure to asbestos has occurred. There is no known cure for the disease, although it can be treated with varying degrees of success through the use of surgical procedures, chemotherapy and radiation.

Herfarth hopes TomoTherapy will decrease overall toxicity, enabling delivery of higher doses of radiation to further reduce recurrence rates. He says he is grateful for “the chance to offer patients with pleural mesothelioma a safe and sufficient radiation therapy in a multidisciplinary approach.”